(Currently untitled)
by Alumina
Summary: The park's sand began to swirl around them, blowing into their faces. Sakura got out her Key, having it grow into a larger and longer wand and got a Clow Card out. "Fly!" Wings appeared on the back of the Key, taking her and Hak high into the air. The sand followed, attacking from above. Hak clung to Sakura. "Try something else!" I do not own either fandom.


**This one took me a while to write, so there might be a few problems with the pacing. I got the idea for this because when I first started watching Card Captor Sakura I noticed that a few of the cards are similar to the ones in Tai Chi Chasers. **

**This takes place between episodes 14 and 15 in Tai Chi Chasers, and before episode 26 in Card Captor Sakura.**

Sena stared down at her communicator's screen, watching a tiny blip go in and out. "Are you sure it's near here, Hak?"

"It's here, but…" Hak stared down at the park's fountain's stone edge he stood on. "It feels… off."

Tori looked up from the toy boat he had in the fountain. "You don't think the Dragonoids already found it, do you?"

Rai folded his arms, sitting on the edge of the fountain. "The card is still here, and they didn't attack us yet. They wouldn't use a card as bait again, would they?" A little over two weeks earlier the Dragonoids had used two Tai Chi cards as bait so General Vicious could attack the Tigeroid airship by using the powerful, Forbidden Ghost Self-type Tai Chi card that used the life force of the user and had been used to power the Dragonoid Airship's laser. Even though he had escaped when they destroyed his airship, it was the last time they had heard of him. Since then, the Dragonoids had been trying harder to get the Tai Chi cards, almost as if they were desperate.

Sena glanced at Finn, who leaned against a nearby tree. "What do you think?"

Finn shrugged, barely reacting when Rai leaned too far back and fell into the fountain.

"We need to start looking for it…" Sena said, looking across the park where a food cart was and called over. "Donha, we have to go."

After a moment Donha came back carrying a bag full of food. "They have a lot of good food."

Rai stomped on ahead, soaked, fuming at the fact no one had helped him. Sure the water wasn't deep enough for him to drown in, but they still could have at least _offered_ to help.

"Rai, wait!" Tori picked up his toy boat, shaking it to dry it off, put it in his back pack, and waited for Hak to jump on his shoulder.

Rai turned to look back and bumped into an invisible wall. Floating behind it in midair was a card, though very hard to see, almost as if it reflected light. Rai took a few steps back, studying where the wall was, what happened with the fountain completely forgotten. "I think it's a dome."

Sena touched it. "We'll have to break it before the card converges."

Rai nodded confidently. "That's easy enough." He activated Fire and Aggressive to form Explosion.

Sena half-ran, half-stumbled out of the way. "Rai!"

The attack hit the dome and was sent back. Donha activated Wall, and the Defensive-type Tai Chi barely withstood the blow.

"It must be the Return card," Hak said, "It turns the enemy's attack back against them, but…" He turned his head to one side.

"So it might be bait?" Sena asked. Hak hesitated and nodded.

The card began to glow brightly and the dome began to shimmer.

"It's converging!" Tori set Hak in his backpack. "Stay here until it's safe, okay?" Hak frowned but nodded and hid. Tori set his backpack a safe distance away.

Rai activated Slice and the attack bounced back.

Finn watched, frowning as Sena's Wind Tai Chi went around the dome and even Tori's Open card strangely didn't work, with one of its affects being able to negate the effects of cards similar to Return. He activated Ice, freezing the dome for an annoyingly short amount of time.

Rai activated Fire twice to create Flame. "Why won't it break?!" The card glowed even brighter and immediately faded as the dome dropped. Rai stared. "What…?"

Tori ran ahead and picked up the card, staring at it. "Um…" he turned, showing it to them. "What is this?" The card was about twice the width of a Tai Chi card and close to four times the height. The pattern on the red back was golden-brown with a sun and crescent moon. The front of the card had a picture of a dome, a tiny crescent moon on the top as if it signified the class of the card, and at the bottom "The Reflect" was stated.

They all stared at it blankly.

"Is it a really rare card or something?" Rai asked, taking it to examine it closer. Everyone else shook their heads.

Tori picked up his backpack. "Now what? If it isn't the card—" A girl on rollerblades crashed into him, knocking him over.

"Sorry!" She helped him up and picked up her backpack that had fallen next to Tori's, quickly leaving.

Rai watched. "How did she not see you?"

Tori set his backpack on a bench. "Sorry about that. It's safe now—"

"Finally!" A orange-yellow lion-cub-like animal with tiny, white wings climbed out. It stared up at them, its eyes very small for the size of its head, making it difficult to tell its –his?– expression. "Wait… who are you?" He noticed the card in Rai's hand. "You found it!" He flew over and grabbed for it.

Rai continually took it out of reach as the lion-cub-thing kept darting for it. "What is it, and who are you?"

"It's a Clow Card," he said, tapping his chest proudly. "And I'm Kerberos, the Beast of the Seal and Clow Card Guardian."

"You did a terrible job guarding it," Rai said, expression flat, "Some 'Beast of the Seal' you are."

Kerberos glared at him, his tail sticking straight out. "I took a thirty-year nap, okay?!" He folded his short arms, looking around. "Now where did Sakura go? She's with her family on a short vacation, and we were looking for that card and lost track of time."

"She just left," Donha said, "We can help you find her."

"That's okay. I know where she lives." He began to float away.

Rai grabbed Kerberos's tail. "You just said she's on vacation."

Kerberos hesitated. "Oh yeah… I don't know where the hotel is."

Tori stepped forward. "If you're here… then is Hak with Sakura?" Everyone turned to him.

* * *

><p>Sakura flopped down on the hotel room bed, setting her backpack next to her. "Sorry, Kero. We'll find it later." Her eyes widened at a white cat with gray stripes climbed out. "…Kerberos?"<p>

The cat stared up at her. "No..."

Sakura gaped at it and screamed. "Talking cat!"

Hak covered his ears, wincing. Sakura gradually calmed down and, at first hesitantly, held out her hand. "My name is Sakura."

Hak set his paw in her hand. "I'm Hak."

"I must have accidentally taken you with me instead of Kero…"

She jumped as the hotel room phone rang and answered it. Her expression changed to a strange mix of relief and disappointment. "That's okay. I had a few things I wanted to do and came back for my purse…" Her expression turned murderous. "I'm not a monster!" She hung up the phone, glaring at it. She turned, forcing a smile. "That was my brother. He said Dad still has some research he has to do and they won't be back until late tonight. We can go find your friends," she got back up. "Will Kero be okay with them? He can be stubborn and has an ego…"

Hak nodded. "Rai is like that, so we're used to it."

* * *

><p>They went to a nearby park –a different one from before, this one having penguin-themed equipment, similar to one near where Sakura lived. Behind the park was a part of the woods that had been sectioned of for nature trails. Sakura sat on a park bench. "They should find us soon. Kero knows I wanted to come here today."<p>

Hak was about to reply when his expression became serious, his ears twitching.

Sakura watched him, his behavior beginning to worry her, as every time Kero acted like that a Clow Card usually acted on its own and caused a disaster. "What's wrong?"

"It's—"

The park's sand began to swirl around them, blowing into their faces. Sakura got out her Key, having it grow into a larger and longer wand and got a Clow Card out. "Fly!" Wings appeared on the back of the Key, taking her and Hak high into the air. The sand followed, attacking from above.

Hak clung to Sakura. "Try something else!"

Sakura used the first card she thought of. "Windy!" Strong gusts of wind came from the card, blowing the sand away and gathering it into a tight sphere. The sand disappeared as Windy sent the card behind the attack to Sakura.

Sakura stared at it, frowning, as she landed on the ground. "This isn't a Clow Card…" The card was about the size of a playing card that had a yin and yang symbol on its red back faintly decorated with kanji. The front had a picture and the kanji character for "Sand" on it.

"It's a Tai Chi card," Hak said, "My friends are looking for the one that we lost." He stared at the card. Wait…

Sakura looked at him. "Maybe they found the Clow Card?" Secretly, she hoped they didn't. A branch snapped unnaturally loudly from the woods behind them. Sakura spun around, screaming. "Shield!" An oncoming attack hit the barrier with enough force it was sent back, too fast to see the details other than it was green. The attack hit something in the trees, and that something screamed as it fell.

Hak tensed. "We have to go. I know who that was. He's dangerous."

* * *

><p>"He has to be around here somewhere," Garnia said, looking at the dense clusters of bushes and trees around them.<p>

Luka didn't reply, annoyed. Of _course_ that idiot had to go off on his own and get lost and, judging by his scream, got attacked by an enemy he underestimated, which was something he did even when he knew the strengths of his opponent.

Jahara stood just ahead and waved them over. "Found him." She looked back down. "Are you okay? … How did you manage you tie yourself up like that?"

Ave weakly pointed in the direction of a nearby park with his free arm. "Tigeroid."

The only one there was a young girl, but she didn't look like one of the Tigeroids, and yet she had the cat with her, the one that Duran claimed was his friend. Jahara glanced at Luka as he walked up to her. "Luka….?"

He had caught a glimpse of the girl using some kind of defensive card, and she hadn't used an Activator. Although…. He shrugged.

Ave struggled to get up as Whip lost affect, freeing him from the tangled knot it had tied him in. He got his Activator and Whip card that had landed in a bush.

Garnia watched. "You're not going to…" Ave straightened out the floating platform he usually took with him on missions, having leaned it against a tree for when he needed it. "Ave, don't do it." Ave ignored him, standing on the platform as it floated high into the air.

Jahara watched. "This isn't going to end well." She sighed as Ave loudly announced his presence. The girl stared at the sky, screaming again, using the same defensive card as before to send Whip back at Ave again.

They just watched him, tracking his movement until he crashed into the bushes behind them, tied up even worse than before. Jahara stared down at him. "Did you really just get beaten by your own attack? Again?"

"I told you…" Garnia said.

* * *

><p>Sakura stared up at the floating platform where a really scary guy had called himself "Ave" or something, accused her of being a "Tigeroid", and had used a strange device that allowed him to attack her with glowing green whips, what he must have used against her before. She glanced around. "He's gone now, right?"<p>

"Even if he is, he might have brought others with him," Hak said, "He always attacks with robots." He looked down. "If he brought any of the other Dragonoids with him…."

Sakura nodded, not completely sure what he was talking about but started to leave anyway, just to be safe, jumping when Ave starting yelling at least one person to capture her which was followed by someone else shouting in an annoyed, feminine voice, "Fine!"

* * *

><p>Kerberos happily shoved whole cookies in his mouth. "These are so good!"<p>

Rai watched, his face blank. "You eat almost as much as Donha."

They were still in the park, deciding what to do next. They had to find the card before the Dragonoids did, but they needed Hak for that, and if they went to look for Hak, the Dragonoids could find the card by then.

Tori gave another cookie to Kerberos. "So you're looking for cards, too?"

Kerberos nodded. "There are still a lot of them missing…." He was about to eat a cookie twice the size of his head when a high-pitch scream pierced through the air. "That's Sakura!" He flew on ahead, shoving the cookie in his mouth. He had to stop occasionally, waiting for everyone to catch up. They came to a small park where Sakura's scream had come from. She wasn't there… Kerberos darted around. "Sakura!"

"Are you sure she was here?" Sena asked.

Keroboros nodded. "She wanted to come here," he gestured toward the park equipment. "She really likes penguins."

Rai stood outside the woods. "Do you think—?" He jumped back startled, as a floating platform crashed into the ground next to him as it lost its power. "What…?"

Finn stared at it for a brief moment. "That's Ave's." He glanced around, studying the strange way the sand was swept. "Sakura was captured."

* * *

><p>Sakura held the Key against her protectively, huddling against the back of the cage that had mysteriously appeared over her after she'd been tied up with green thread and led to the cave. Hak sat next to her, also tied up with the thread. Ave was the only one there, standing a short distance away, glaring at her. The other three were keeping watch for several minutes, and had all looked annoyed when Ave insisted. The cave was well-lit by a fire that had been going when they got there and from a thin light shaft in the ceiling. A small black lizard —maybe a dragon?— slept next to the fire, snoring softly. It woke as the other three came back, staring at them sleepily before it flew at them, happy. "You're back!" The albino stepped out of the way, allowing the lizard-dragon-thing to hug the biggest one of the three with the oversized mallet.<p>

Ave looked over at them, scowling. "She isn't talking," he said, despite what Sakura had already told them.

"We just captured her," the one with the oversized mallet said, prying the lizard-dragon-thing off his face, "Do you expect her to?"

"All of the Tigeroids we've captured before have."

The young woman, who might be the one named Jahara –the one that had tied her up with the thread— turned to the albino with a questioning expression, holding up two fingers. The albino shrugged. He gave the lizard-dragon-thing an annoyed look as it hugged him. Jahara tapped it —him? "Duran, go talk to Hak." At that moment Hak was freed from the thread.

The lizard-dragon-thing looked up at her for a moment and then looked back, his expression brightening. "Hak!" He flew in front of the cage. "How did you get here?" They became oblivious to everything else as they got deep into conversation, smiling and laughing like they were very close friends.

Sakura barely heard Ave talking to her, her attention focused on the other three, all of which didn't look very enthusiastic about something. They started to possibly make a decision with Rock-Paper-Scissors, resulting in a three-way tie each time. Jahara and the one with the oversized mallet played Rock and the albino played Paper. Jahara frowned and the albino switched to Scissors. His expression changed to something that suggested he'd gotten confused, as if he lost purposely on impulse without thinking ahead.

"Are you listening, Tigeroid?!"

Sakura frowned, facing Ave. "I told you I'm not a Tigeroid!"

He pointed accusingly at her. "You used Shield; of course you are!"

Sakura got another card out. "Watery!" The blast sent Ave flying back against a cave wall. Sakura looked at the other three, who were staring. "You don't think I'm a Tigeroid, do you?"

They shook their heads. Jahara walked up to her. "Is this one of your cards?" She offered a Clow Card, "We found it lying on the ground."

That meant… Sakura nodded excitedly. "Yes!" She reached for it.

Jahara took it out of reach. "I'll give it to you in exchange for the card you found."

"Well…" She looked at the Tai Chi Card, studying it. There were scribbles of some kind near the bottom, similar to how she wrote her name on the Clow Cards. Because there was a name they couldn't use it anyway, right? "Okay."

They exchanged cards. Jahara's eyes narrowed as she slowly turned to glare at Ave, who froze and carefully began to back away. "You used your own card as bait?"

Sakura was sure she heard one of the other two, maybe the albino—the one that face-palmed—say, "Idiot". Sakura stared down at the Clow Card. It was Fly….

The one with the oversized mallet looked over at Ave. "If she used a Water card she can't be a Tigeroid."

Ave didn't look back at him. "She could be—" He hesitated when the albino gave him a warning glare, changing what he had started to say, "a hybrid."

For a brief second an emotion flickered over the albino's face. "She can't use Tai Chi Cards, and she said she's a 'Card Captor', one of the few that can use the cards she has with her."

Ave narrowed his eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

"A hybrid would be able to sense where Dragonoid and Tigeroid Tai Chi will hit and evade them. She saw your attacks coming," he said simply.

For a moment Ave struggled to prove the albino wrong with confused, unfinished sentences. He turned away, leaving. "Whatever."

Jahara watched and turned to the others. "Garnia, do you think we should follow him?"

The one with the oversized mallet went on ahead. "He won't go too far."

Jahara turned to the albino. "What are we going to do when we get back?"

The albino shook his head, maybe in response to an unspoken question. "Ave isn't even supposed to be here. Mishka gave him strict orders to stay on the Luftdrake."

Jahara stared down at the cave floor. "He's going to get punished again, isn't he?"

The albino didn't answer. "…Stay here. Garnia is going to need help bringing him back."

Jahara nodded, watching him leave. She looked over at Sakura. "You'll be stuck there for a while."

Sakura sighed, leaning back. "Kero even said the cards' fortune said something bad was going to happen today," She explained further as Jahara gave her a questioning expression, "The Clow Cards can be used to tell fortunes. This morning they said something bad was going to happen with a group of people. I just thought it meant people would see me get a Clow Card…."

Jahara knelt in front of the cage. "Can they be used to tell any kind of fortune? Like romance?" She looked hopeful.

Sakura thought it over. "They might…." She looked up. "If it works could you let me out?"

"I will if you stay here."

If the cards could tell romance fortunes…. Sakura smiled happily. "Yukito…" Her face turned red and she got the cards out.

* * *

><p>Because it was starting to get dark they went back to the Tigeroid Airship. Kerberos sat on the table, arms folded, irritated. "Why couldn't we keep looking?"<p>

"We don't know where they took her," Sena said, "And fighting in the dark is too dangerous."

"But why would they take her?" He stared up at her, his tiny eyes impossibly narrow.

"If Hak was with her she would be mistaken for one of us," Donha said, "At the worst they would use her as bait."

Kerberos looked up at him. "How do you know? Don't they hate you?"

"They know we would come looking for her."

Tori stared at a strange compass on the table in front of him. "The Find Tai Chi isn't working… They might be blocking it somehow."

"We'll find her," Rai said, "We just need to find the Tai Chi Card and them wait for them."

Tori looked up. "But the Tai Chi Card's signal stopped showing up after we found the Clow Card."

* * *

><p>Sakura studied the cards, trying to remember what Kero told her. "It looks like something bad will happen…." She looked up. "Does the Watery card mean anything to you?"<p>

Jahara's face turned a light red as she looked away. "A little bit…"

Sakura smiled, nodding. "It's very possible, then." Jahara smiled.

The albino walked over. "What are you doing?"

Jahara jumped, looking back, her face even redder. "Hi Luka… I…" She exhaled slowly. "She was showing me how she tells fortunes with her cards, and I asked for one about the future…" She hesitated. "In exchange for freeing her… and Hak."

Luka's emotionless expression didn't change. "Fine."

Sakura looked up at him. "You don't care if she lets me out?"

"Ave is the only one that will."

Jahara looked back at Sakura. "You're still going to have to stay here. Ave will make us come after you."

Sakura sighed lightly. "Just keep him away from me…"

Jahara nodded and stood up, activating a Break card. The bars of the cage broke and the cage disappeared. She turned to Luka. "Did you get Ave or am I going to have to make him come back?"

"You're the only one he'll listen to when he's this stressed out." He followed her to the short tunnel that led to the cave entrance and leaned against the wall. He looked like he wanted to go with her, but couldn't because he had to stay there.

Now that the cage was gone Sakura could look around more freely. She looked up at the light shaft. It was getting dark…. If Hak's friends were looking for her they'd never find her here at night…. Wait… She made sure Luka wasn't watching —his attention was still where Jahara had gone, even though she was quite likely out of sight by then— and quietly used a card, whispering. "Find Kero and bring him back here." A multitude of tiny glowing specks emanated from the card and floated outside, their appearance hidden by the firelight.

* * *

><p>Kerberos sat on the ledge of the Tigeroid Airship's back deck, staring up at the sky. The others had followed him.<p>

"We'll find her tomorrow," Rai said, "We almost never get attacked at night." Almost three weeks earlier the Dragonoids had attacked Sena's father. Unlike any other time before, all the Dragonoids attacked. They, fortunately, had been forced to retreat.

Kerberos stared at him. "You're not helping." He looked around as specks of light floated around them.

Rai tried touching them, as did everyone else except Finn, who just watched. "What are these?"

"Glow…" He smiled, gaining more enthusiasm. "We have to follow them."

* * *

><p>Sakura sat next to the fire, watching Jahara lead Ave in, having him tied up with the green thread and forcing him to sit down. The thread was also tied around his mouth so he couldn't speak.<p>

"Say that again and I will use Thread to tie you in a knot even worse than the one you were in earlier." That made Luka immediately glare at Ave. "He mocked me," Jahara said, her voice lowering. "And he was being obnoxious." Something in hers and Luka's expressions seemed to say it was unusual for that to happen.

Ave gave her an annoyed look and then glared at Sakura, his yells muffled. Sakura showed him the Watery card, getting him to stop.

Garnia came back. "The Tigeroids are coming." Everyone looked up at him. "Rai isn't very quiet."

Luka tensed. Jahara turned to Ave. "You're not allowed to go anywhere near her, okay?" She took a stick from the fire and blew out the flames on one end of it, drawing a line very close in front of Ave. "Cross that and she is allowed to use her cards to attack you." If he moved even a little bit…. The thread disappeared.

Jahara and Garnia went a little ways down the tunnel where there were other pathways, using them to hide.

Luka glanced over at Duran and Hak. "Duran, go hide somewhere."

Duran was about to argue back when Hak nodded. Duran sighed. "See you later…." He floated away.

Hak went back to Sakura. Sakura looked between Luka and Ave. "Is this what you played Rock-Paper-Scissors over?"

Luka nodded. "Unfortunately…." Ave looked up at him, looking confused and offended. They watched as Glow came back and returned to its card.

"Sakura!" Kero darted in, stopping just inches in front of Sakura's face. "I've been looking for you!" He slowly turned, looking around. "…This is a trap, isn't it?" Sakura nodded nervously.

"Rai, wait!"

Rai ran in, having already activated Sword, closely followed by the others. Sakura was able to guess who they were from what Hak had told her.

Kero frantically waved his arms. "No, wait! Go back! Go back!" He gave up once Jahara and Garnia blocked off the exit.

Sena glared at Rai. "I told you to wait!"

Tori glanced around. "They're all here…"

Luka and Rai didn't attack each other, instead having a stare down.

Kero and Hak pushed Sakura out of the way. Sakura watched, wide-eyed as everyone either got scales or stripes over their faces, except for Luka. She frowned as they got out the devices that let allowed them to activate their cards. "It's too small to fight here!" They all froze in mid-action and turned to her, glancing around, and reluctantly nodded.

Garnia had activated Explosion at the same time Sakura pointed out the disadvantage and had to control the attack a lot more than it normally needed to be. Everyone dove out of the way as it flew past, it hitting the back wall of the cave, destroying it, and leaving a very nice sized hole that opened up the cave. Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling, bouncing off of Shield, the only card Sakura had that could help protect everyone.

Sakura peeked over the edge and stumbled back. That was a long fall… She looked back. If she could distract them for just a moment… She got a card out. "Shadow!" In the center of the cave a cloaked figure rose out of the ground. Jahara backed away a few steps, her gaze focused on the figure. Luka stepped in front of her, waiting for Shadow's next moment.

Rai stared at it for a moment before joining the others, who were with Sakura. "Is that all it does?"

"No..."

Ave activated Whip. "You can't protect yourself with a shadow."

Shadow grabbed Whip's shadow and threw it back, Whip following and, once again, tying up Ave.

Garnia stared down at him. "You were saying?"

Shadow faded.

Sena glanced at Sakura. "Do you have another card that will distract them?"

She nodded, but looked reluctant. "I can use Illusion, but it might confuse you, too…."

"We can just look away," Kero said.

Sakura used the card. A bright light appeared in the center of the cave. Luka and Jahara stared, wide-eyed, glanced at each other, and quickly looked away, their faces turning red.

Rai and Donha stared out of the cave at the very long fall down. Donha shook his head. "It's a straight drop."

"Which means we'll have to defeat the Dragonoids," Rai said, sounding very pleased by that.

Rai turned and stared, mumbling a few words, slowly walking forward. Everyone else turned and stared, wide-eyed, at the bright light. The light faded and it took a moment for everyone to fully realize what had happened. Ave looked as if he was very disappointed.

Rai combined Aggressive and Fire, ignoring Sena telling him not to.

They ran out of the way and to the center of the cave as the attack passed. A glow came from the entrance of the tunnel, signifying a Tai Chi Card convergence. Explosion was sent back, weaker but spread out, blowing out the fire and knocking everyone out of the back of the cave. Sakura used Float, the card having enough of an affect to soften the fall. For a moment no one moved, stunned.

As they had been knocked out of the cave Luka had caught Jahara, making sure he would at least soften her fall. He slowly helped her sit up. "Are you all right?"

Jahara nodded.

"Rai?"

"What, Sena?" He stared up at the sky.

"I ban you from using Explosion unless necessary."

Everyone carefully got up. Kero stared up at the cave, watching as a faint glow got brighter and brighter. "The card is coming after us."

Everyone looked at him and up, watching as a glowing card floated down. A protective energy field surrounded it. It stopped in midair between them.

"That's the Return card," Hak said. Luka looked over at him, frowning.

Ave attacked the card with Whip, only for the very familiar event of the attack coming back at him to happen.

Jahara stared, not at all amused. "Ave, just don't use Whip for a while."

Whip lost its effect. Ave got another card, and after some consideration put it back.

Kero frowned. "If he keeps his cards in his sleeves, then how does he pick the one he needs?"

"I'm still trying to figure out how everything _stays_ up his sleeves," Rai said.

Luka stared hard at Return, frowning.

Jahara turned to him. "Luka….?"

"Mishka said this was Gherba's plan. Return isn't one of the lost cards the Tigeroids are trying to find. And it isn't one that we already have."

"What are you saying?"

"Gherba is hiding something."

"What…?" Her attention was drawn to the current fight.

Everyone else watched as the two Kerberoses fought, their expressions blank at the sight of the seemingly pointless fight.

"Do you know which is Kerberos?" Rai asked.

Sakura shook her head. "He loves sweets…"

Donha handed her a candy bar. "Like this?"

Sakura nodded and held the candy high. "Kero, chocolate!"

One of the Kerberoses turned to her. "Chocolate?!" He flew past her, taking it. "Candy candy candy candy~!"

The other Kerberos stared, confused.

Jahara narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"

The other Kerberos turned to her, his voice high-pitch. "He said I can't use my cards properly!"

"So you use Transform instead of a card that could get Return?"

He looked away, staring at the barrier surrounding the card, Transform wearing off. He activated Whip again, this time getting out of the way. The attack bounced off, redirected this time, hitting and tying Sena to a tree. Ave laughed, that laugh abruptly stopping when tall pillars of ice with spikes jutting all over surrounded him. Finn held his Ice card, his eyes narrow.

"Finn, I'm okay," Sena said.

Finn allowed the ice pillars to disappear, giving Ave one last icy glare before helping Sena.

"Should we just keep attacking it?" Rai asked, staring at the barrier. "If we don't, it will keep converging."

"But if it's like the Clow Card then how are we going to stop it?" Tori asked. "None of our cards worked on it."

"We'll have to work together to stop it," Luka said, looking as if he hated the idea as much as everyone else did. "We need to slow it down and use a fast attack."

Finn got his Ice card, staring at it for a moment. He glanced at the Dragonoids. "Do you have any cards that can slow or stop it?"

Garnia activated his Slow Tai Chi, causing Return's energy field to expand much more slowly. Finn froze it with Ice. Luka activated Destruction. The ice shattered, leaving the dome unharmed.

Finn froze it with Ice again, this time Rai and Garnia activated Explosion. Tiny cracks appeared in the barrier and then disappeared as it began to expand again.

"What if you froze it with water and used more attacks?" Sakura asked.

"It's worth a try…" Garnia said.

Jahara turned to Ave, catching him starting to activate a card. "No. You're not allowed to help."

He glowered at her but didn't do anything else, instead just watching.

Garnia used Slow on the card again, this time getting the dome to actually stop growing. Luka activated Water, having it twist tightly around the dome. Finn froze the water with Ice, this time making sure it was thicker than before. Tori activated Power, having it strengthen Destruction, Rai's and Garnia's Explosions, and Stone, the combined attacks severely breaking the ice. Luka and Jahara shattered the rest with Pirece and Break. Large cracks spider-webbed over the dome, and, very slowly, began disappearing. Sena activated Stream, and Finn finished with Lightening. The dome, finally, shattered.

The card floated to the ground. Ave dove for it just as Sakura had Windy retrieve it. A soft wind picked up the card and took it to Rai. Rai stared down at it. "That didn't feel like a real victory. It felt wrong."

Jahara glared at him. "If that's how you feel about it…." She activated Thread, having multiple strands fly at them.

On impulse, Rai activated Return, sending the attack back. Ave was lucky enough to escape from being tied up again, only for Garnia to trip and fall on him. Luka and Jahara were tied together and they avoided eye contact.

"We should go now," Tori said, backing away.

Sena nodded and activated Tree, having a tree grow out of the ground and take them back up to the cave.

"Are they going to be okay?" Sakura asked, looking back as they walked towards the cave entrance.

"They will. Thread will lose effect in a few minutes," Sena said.

Rai played with the Return card. "We still found it, though."

Outside of the cave entrance was several strange red and white boards leaning against the cave wall. Rai glanced back at Sena. "There aren't enough…"

"That's okay," Sakura said, "I have Fly." She showed them the card.

Rai got the Clow Card they found, offering it to her. "Here."

Sakura didn't take it, her cheerfulness gone. "If you got it back in its original form then I can't take it. It already chose you as its owner."

"It only turned back into a card," Rai said, "It fought with us and then just stopped."

Kero nodded. "That's because Reflect doesn't like to fight. It turns back into a card if it feels threatened. It's not the best strategy…" He turned to Sakura. "So it didn't choose him." Sakura smiled and took the card.

"Your cards have personalities? That's weird," Rai said.

"How did you find it, anyway?" Sakura asked.

"We thought it was a Tai Chi Card converging," Tori said, "It happens when our cards activate on their own. It started about two weeks ago because our worlds are becoming unbalanced."

Sakura became very quiet. Kero patted her shoulder. "It probably has nothing to do with when you released the Clow Cards. That was months ago."

Sakura reluctantly nodded and suddenly looked up, eyes wide. "I have to get back," she used Fly. "If you want I can get your cards if I find any."

Sena nodded. "We'll let you know when we find them all, and we'll help if you still need to find yours."

Sakura nodded and waved as she left.

* * *

><p>They were back on the Luftdrake, once again without a Tai Chi Card. Ave was able to escape punishment from having used his Transform Tai Chi on a robot so it would look like him, but that didn't stop him from going into hiding.<p>

Luka and Jahara sat at opposite sides of the table, avoiding all eye contact.

"It could've been worse," Garnia said, getting glances from tFhem. "Either one of you could've been tied to Ave."


End file.
